$641m ODA proposed to build Tân Phú-Bảo Lộc Expressway

LÂM ĐỒNG (VNS) — The Project Management Board No.1 has proposed the Ministry of Transport should increase funding for the Tân Phú-Bảo Lộc Expressway in the Central Highland province of Lâm Đồng.

In the proposal sent to the ministry, the management board said the Tân Phú-Bảo Lộc Expressway was part of the Dầu Giây-Liên Khương Highway. The board urged the ministry to allocate more than VNĐ14.3 trillion (US$641 million) from the Japanese government’s official development assistance (ODA) fund to build the expressway.

The expressway is 66 kilometres long and 17 metres wide, accommodating four lanes with a designed speed of 100kph.

As planned, the project’s total investment capital is more than VNĐ17.2 trillion ($771 million). Of which, over VNĐ14.3 trillion ($641 million) will come from the ODA fund, while the rest comes from the Vietnamese government.

The results of the management board’s survey showed that there were currently some 7,240 cars running on National Highway 20, the main highway connecting Đồng Nai and Lâm Đồng Province.

The flow of vehicles is too heavy for the route, even though the highway has been repaired and upgraded many times. The Tân Phú-Bảo Lộc section was the most dangerous part, with slopes creating a hazard for road users.

The management board said it would complete the report on the feasibility of the project and send it to the ministry by the second quarter of this year if it received approval for the extra funding.

It also said the Japan International Cooperation Agency had initially shown interest in the project. — VNS